A striking example of depravity

While working the night shift recently I encountered three young people from the inner city. Two out of three of these young people have been charged with multiple felony home invasion charges, and the third will be charged at a later date.

Three police departments working together while investigating five felonious crimes developed these three suspects, interviewed them, and solved those five crimes which occurred on five different nights. Four home invasions and one burglary of a business were among the crimes that these young people were involved in. Thirteen, fourteen, and seventeen were their ages. The oldest currently sits in the county jail facing all these charges as an adult. The youngest and probably hardest of the three sits in the county juvenile center and faces the possibility of being charged as an adult. The fourteen year old awaits some of the very same charges to come at a later date.

These three demonstrated a hardness which is increasingly more common. Lies and disrespect riddled their behavior while in contact with several investigating officers.

The youngest, however, displayed a hardness of heart, mind, and life which have rarely been seen in people many years older than he. Absolute depravity is what came to mind. The fallen nature of mankind will fall to the lowest point possible given an absence from graces which otherwise restrain such living. Granted this young one lived in circumstances absent many such graces like a solid family unit, discipline, instillation of wisdom, and shielding from much exposure to the evils of our society.

Proverbs 29:15-18
The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother. When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall. Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

I watched as no less than 6 well trained and seasoned officers attempted to interview these three. Partial confessions were gained but officers were unable to obtain any information regarding the two handguns taken during these crimes. For a thirteen year old to defiantly lie, change his story, and restrain from telling the truth when confronted with such as these officers is still shocking to me, even after seven plus years in this line of work. Hardness of heart permeated their language and attitude. Most shocking was the fact that these officers were seasoned with a combined total of well over 100 years of law enforcement experience and these kids remained very much unshaken from so many lies. Experience tells me otherwise that it is usually not terribly difficult to obtain complete confessions from children of such ages.

For children such as these to so value more being “hard” as they call it, turns the stomachs of officers who all too often deal with this wickedness. Why police officers often become cynical with many such experiences is not difficult to see.

My finger points not at these children, who in many ways are products of our society’s state of deprivation, though this does not shirk them of their responsibility in such matters nor the consequences thereof. The judgment rather points out the condition of heart that so gravitates toward the pit and the grave. This fallen-ness lay not only in the hearts of criminals, but in yours and mine as well.

That the battle with sin in our own lives rages is proof enough. That there remains in our hearts desires which rival our desires for God is more evidence still. That your heart and mine would, only once (though we are all guilty of many more such offences), choose something over Him is nothing less than high treason and as such convicts us as guilty. The very same depravity lurking in the heart of that hardened thirteen year old, creeps around in the corners of our hearts as well. If as you read this you think, “my heart is not as bad as that.” Then you remain in the very dangerous place of not seeing your sin for the atrocity that it is. So great and terrible is sin that it took God in the flesh to unfetter our lives so desperately bound in it. It took the sacrifice of the God-Man, Christ Jesus, who endured our deserved punishment because of the outrage of sin. That He should suffer and die is the ultimate evidence that sin is atrocious, horrific, despicable, and vile.

Convicted as guilty we are, whether we see it or not. Yet there remains an answer for the sin in our hearts and in our world. It is the good news that Jesus died in order to save sinners like hardened thirteen year olds and like me.